Lamb Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Stuffed Cabbages

Cabbage Rolls

Golubtsi

Golubtsy
Kåldolmar

Stuffed cabbages is a very comforting dish and very popular in Easter Europe, Middle East, Sweden, and Balkans countries. There are so many variations and recipes of stuffed cabbages. I will be making them with ground lamb and without carb this time. Usually their filling contains any type of ground meat or combination of two meats. Also the filling is mixed with a type of grain like rice, barley, kasha, farro, etc.

It looks like a very difficult dish but one you make it for the first time and learn your own way to wrap the cabbages leaves it wont  be as hard as it looks.

I love making them when I am alone in the kitchen. It really relaxes me.....

They are very tasty and a very nice family meal. They can be frozen or keep it in the refrigerator for a week. They taste better after next day of being prepared!

I am sure you are going to enjoy them!!

Ingredients

• 1 large head of green cabbage
• water
• A splash of white vinegar
• 2 lbs ground lamb
• 1 large onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 small carrot cut in 2-3 pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper cut quarters
• 1 celery stick
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 cup of White wine
• Another small onion thinly chopped
• 1 small shredded carrot
• 4 more garlic cloves
• 2 spoons of tomato paste
• 1-2 cups of Organic Chicken or Vegetable stock
• Sour cream or Greek plain yogurt
• Salt and Pepper
• Panko or bread crumbs (for ground meat leftovers)

Preparation

1. First prepare a big stock pot with water, salt, and a splash of white vinegar. Fill the pot with water half way only. I like to use my big pot to cook pasta with a colander insert. It makes it easier to take the cabbage from the boiling water. Bring the water to boil. Cut as much as you can of the cabbage core. Place the whole cabbage in the inner colander of the pasta pot. Cook the cabbage head until leaves get soft, about 10 minutes.

2. To prepare the filling, place the onion cut in quarters, garlic, carrot, red bell pepper, celery, and parsley in the food processor. Pulse the food processor several time until you chopped all the ingredients. Place the ground lamb in a bowl, egg, chopped veggies, salt, and pepper. You can add rice at this point too or any other grain like farro or quinoa. I made them this time low carb.

3. Remove the strainer from the pot carefully and let the cabbage head cool down a little bit. Start removing the inner soft leaves carefully. You can place the cabbage head in the water again if you feel the inner leaves of the cabbages are too hard too get. You should get around 15 leaves. Reserve the first leave you removed from the cabbage and all the broken ones to use at the bottom of your cooking pot or dutch oven. Cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.

4. Now it time to fill the leaves with the ground lamb mixture. Place about a spoon of the mixture in the middle of the cabbage leave. Wrap the leave like a envelop. Look at the picture bellow. Roll away to enclose the filling, then flip the sides to the middle, and roll again until close. Start placing them inside your cooking pot already prepared with leaves at the bottom of it. Continue doing the same until you run out of filling or run out of leaves. If you have some ground meat left after done filling all your leaves add some panko or bread crumbs to the ground lamb mixture and make some meat balls. Place them on top of your stuffed cabbages.

5. In a small skillet heat olive oil and saute your extra chopped onion, carrots, and fresh pressed garlics. Whisk the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and white wine. Let it boil and reduce to simmer. Add 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock.

6. Poor all the tomato sauteed liquid to the cooking pot. Add more stock if necessary. Bring it to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered with the lid for 1 hour until cabbage leave are tender and all the top meat balls are cooked through.

7. Serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. I ate mine with home made tzatziki sauce! I will be posting that recipe too....

Happy New Year 2012!!

Start your New Year Cooking Healthy!!

Buen Provecho!

Sarabelle Sylva